Gentelmen is great, but there needs to be some more established artist that can close one night. Anthony B, Vybz Cartel...even though he is unpredictable, Buju, TOK would be fun, Elephant Man, Beenie Man usually has a good show.

pat it means that the audience at sting bottles (plastic bottles) anyone who isnt the flavor of the moment. pure ignorance to bottle frankie paul, bunny wailers, anyone not screaming the latest slackness style. its a total joke. gentleman is big everywhere, even in ja, and is a real asset to the lineup. its too bad some arent happy with the lack of modern dancehall artists this year but one should look on the positive. theres practically the entire st croix posse coming, the debut of downbeat on the west coast (probably), plenty old time favorites, some yankee hip hop fusion kind of culture with spearhead, rare performances by alton ellis, linval thompson, winston jarrett, etc. whats not to like?

Thanx, I got what "being bottled" off the stage meant... Just not the whole "for a reason" part. Jah Bill I agree with you. The lineup is real nice. Especially the whole st. Croix crew. Good variety of styles this year
paz

ras danny, I was the one who said "whole st. croix crew" but I didnt mean that the "whole st croix crew" is comprised just of midnite, dezarie & ikahba. there are many others comin out of this small island... I think that is what you are saying here: "dis assortmint ah playahz can come close ta "the whole crew"...

the whole crew would be engough for another festival! artists like army, batch, ras attitude, abja, bambu station, mada nile, star lion etc... and many many more.... thats more like the whole crew, and the list keeps growing!

ras danny, who cares about your RAW# ??
i dont.......
anyway, the st. croix crew is the ONLY new roots crew worthy of listening to.
& for the topic, im sure culture is busy making more crappy digital albums.

Everyone mention Midnite, Dezarie, and Ikahba, but don't forget Sabbattical Ahdah. Him hail from St. Croix as well. Talking dancehall though, at least this fest has a dancehall, good luck at ROTR............Oh, your all stoked cause Luciano and Capleton are there. Well, repeats, repeats, repeats, nah disrespect but no new ragga/dancehall for 2004, Gentleman at least brings a new flavor to the west coast. SNWMF also has some legends that we may never have a chance to see again.

Well I for one haven't seen Luci since the late 90s. Back then, yeah it felt like I had seen the same performance copy & pasted...but watching a recent performance of his from Jamaica on DVD...the man has transformed dramatically. Capleton, well...I like his style of DJing, but a "Bobo" who eat KFC nah mek it for me these days.

Why should it surprise anybody that Capleton would go to KFC? I wouldn't be surprised to see Sizzla standing in line behind him . . . these are reggae artists, not devout Rastas. If they were really so strong in the faith, they'd probably be meditating in the mountains instead of going on tour and cutting records about "Panty Raid" and other slackness.

Eating Chicken is not what suprises me, (It is still within Nazarite/Moses food laws) What does is the support for big business that has overtaken much of Jamaica and provided little wealth for the common people. I think there are like 24 KFC's in Jamaica. Anyway the documentary "Life and Debt" is a great film that show the effect of Globalization, IMF, and World Bank has had on Jamaica. Sizzla, Anthony B, Buju and many other artists have done music for the soundtrack and I doubt they would be supporting KFC.

No s*%$!!! I don't touch da stuff, strickly vegetarian with an occasional fish. And don't agree with the production aspect either, but even if it was produced more humane I was just bringing up reasoning from an economic standpoint

Ya man I do know Muta standpoint on dis as well.
But he is a vegan and doesn't even cook, Only eats raw vegan food. He has no affiliation with Moses food laws, it is a natural spiritual progression in Man to him.
He talks about... you know why they sell you hamburgers in those coffin shape boxes? Because they are selling you death, or other quotes to that effect.

forgive i* if quote iz a lill' off but i* tink it goes like dis " strawberry, blueberry ice cream. dat nah the berry way." had the muta lyrics but i* traded dat disk into the pon shop for some dub vinyl ofcourse. am alwayz interested in what muta sayz but dont give him the respect maybe he deserves due to his rude like attitude towardz the simple bambaclot in person. many people feel he has hard time dealing with race issues(white mon). kicked from his own home fest"sunplash" nah dat i* care for dat these dayz when more better tingz a gwan like "rebel salute" but when he play inna AZ. last time he would not even greet his local open reggae band before the show. but never the less have learned a good rasta point of view from the i* & dont hold barrz to what other people's experiences are. so hamburgerz? just the name souNz funny like dey want to eat pork"ham" even when dey are eating beef. just a bloody mess that iz funded by fast food & the cisco supply industry. how do u tink morning star foodz stays in bizz so good? @ least their moveing towardz alternative these dayz even kno itz nah much better than the original murder mystrey. >forward^

Right again. I don't check for his stuff at all any more. I've never been heavily impacted by poetry in itself, and with music, it would have to come off something different than the Muta experience. I think poets get most of their attention from other poets, which I am not. Can't dance to poetry, which goes the same for a lot of dub poetry. I check for man like.....LKJ....Ras Sam Brown.
Irie Ites-
Stevo

JahMeek, i enjoy your posts, but sometimes the forrest gets lost through the trees of your inscription.

"am alwayz interested in what muta sayz but dont give him the respect maybe he deserves due to his rude like attitude towardz the simple bambaclot in person. many people feel he has hard time dealing with race issues(white mon)."

What does this mean? He is rude toward bambaclots? Who wouldn't be? Race issues IS what muta deals with, and he does it without any 'hard times'.

Perhaps you were intending to say that he has an attitude towards white people. If that is the case, then I agree with you 100%. He DOES have an attitude towards white people (as a class of individuals) AND SO DO I. Read your history. But on an individual level, I would have to disagree 1000%. From the first time I met him 23 years ago, he has NEVER given me 'rude attitude' or a 'hard time' on account of my colour.

Daniel>-yeh mon+ c' where your coming from on a personal level. his links on your site are nice. on other hand i* hold no push on dis subject because i* never met the guy more than standing in the front row of a few of his showz. and i* also find his worx ispiration for the mazzive including i*self. maybe not as top ten ranker but most classic roots artists are a part of it all in the full. in his case poetry.(word soun' 'ave power reggae poetry is a great album of JA poets a must have)only real problem i* really hold is why he was not invited back to sunsplash & i* hear alot of people complain about his vibe from dat but show was censored for pay per veiw so not exactley what waz said because i* was nah dar but i* heard it waz a killer. most people dat complain though dont kno a militant azpect of rastafar i* ,so on other hand as a white person, if dat iz wha i* label iz i* personley dont really care past dirty look he gave i*(not like dat has ever happened before). 7X70 nuff RASpects >1LUV*+*+*+*+*+*+*+

o'yeh forgot to cover tha bamba clot ting daniel. yeh your rite about dat. i* guess when im try ing to push up on meaning & wanna be short for wordz. i* should have said dat iz nah christ like & sure would be nice to live more orthadox like his poetry seemz to learn towardz. im not an angel either but then again im not on stage either just a soundboy with time to post here & dont chat live much just dub. -RASpects+

Well for me, reggae music has never been for the music, but rather for the message.

I can name dozens of soul or r&b vocalists who are superior to any vocals that i am aware of in reggae. So too, there are scores of musicians that outdo reggae's finest players of instruments.

But for me, reggae's got something that i don't see in other musics.....VIBES. The vibes come from 2 places. First, you've got some bands like Midnite. Their music is incredibly simple, yet they manage to reach another level with it. "A masterpiece painted with the single stroke of a brush". This is SOUND.

But then you've also got the WORD. Reggae is the voice of the people. And for me, there is nobody who personifies that more than Mutabaruka.

He doesn't get invited to a lot of festivals because he refuses to tell people what they want to hear (ie. "Do you feel irie?" "Lighter. Show me dem lighter&quot, he tells them what they NEED to hear (ie. "wearing a tee-shirt isn't enough, you have to DO something", "Religion was perpetuated by white men to enslave and opress women&quot.

I find it interesting that Muta is criticized the most, not on account of his not smoking herb, and not on account of his belief that rastas need to 'come out of the bible mentality', but rather because of his ardent support for the woman and the need to awaken the femine consciousness in these times.

-YES*+ muta'z most recent tour speech i* recall iz something like: there iz no bible chapterz written bi* femalez because men who wrote bible are insecure & linez of such & so on........ i* overstand where he'z iz coming from in the sense dat there are no known female writtenz famous by wombon in i*ble & seemz strange besidez fact dat eve deceived adam & JAH in genesis but also @ same time message seemz a bit agrow if u kno wha i* mean. the wombom giv+ birth & keep life alive giv+thanx for dat & also for the melamin man. who cares if he tells people nah to smoke herb so does i* mom. differnt i*deas practiced here but all same foundation with same blood & JAH heart* nuff UNITY -RASpects+

Mr Zion,
You can believe what you like, but I hardly think it's a stretch and my friend is as credible of a source as I know. Fact is, most of these conscious artists today do not practise what they preach. Capleton @ KFC, Capleton & Sizzla sexing any cute thing which comes their way, Sizzla driving BMW & wearing fur coats on stage while preaching "Simplicity", etc. Hell, even Sizzla & Capleton's respective crews of "Bobo dreads" nearly caused a riot at Rebel Salute this year; if you took away their red/green/gold gear you woulda thought it was a PNP vs JLP showdown. That is dancehall in 2004.
The only true Rasta who lives how he sings of this generation is Luciano, which is probably why he stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Muta, John Holt, etc in publicly chastizing Sizzla & Capleton for not setting a good example for the youth.
My point of posting this is so people realize music is music, we should take what they asy at face value and incorporate it into our lives, not make them role models and hold them up to their words.

well nothing happened so now it becomes a rumer. nah sure wha u mean bi* dead rotten granny but souNz like a mix of the grateful dead & the sex pistols, haha. dem probley come more concious next year watch. wha kind of rasta would start a contact fite @ a tony rebel show? some mite even get mad u call dem dread i* so u may see dat for yourself. >forward^ -RASpects+

I agree with you Chimino about your post 3 back. It's easy to understand..... yeah if you don't like it, don't listen! Right? Right. So I personally don't follow their sound much anymore. But some chunes are a must. And so it goes with a lot of reggae music. This wave of Bobo fame is killer for most of the music, but some of the message is being corrupted by the fame, by those in the limelight.

I feel like ushering people right on through the slack, and straight to where the vibes a come from. Lord knows anyone who beginning to feel the vibe has got their hands full catching up. So I stand up against slack and what it promotes. Trying to lead the youths to something better. Musically as well as the message.

Daniel- no basing anything on how hard it is to play. Death Metal is the trump card there.
Irie Ites-
Stevo

-how about+ the fame of christain bands who most are sold exclusive @ evalagist book stores. all sort of bamba dar. everyting from cheese rap to glam rock, punk, reggae & even some of that heavy stuff im sure they have a better name for besides death metal. i* remember iNi calling it speed metal but the death message sort took over when the whole movement fell in early 90's to what iz scene today(total differance in youth). so inna way dem rockerz slack from iNi point of veiw before anyone has even listioned to music message. in a way i* feel same for bobo'z who work on labelz, when the label itself iz nah a bobo supporter but really just wantz to sell cd'z. YES* the bobo message iz a seller & iNi are buyerz. the more u want to get on breakin' it down chimo ,only leadz to own closet in the end, ya kno. letz play more online cardz Stevo. just kidding JAH*. Chimono mon wha agwan. hard nites work or wha? giv the youth a break sometimez. SMILE >1LUV*+*+*+*+*+*+*+

I'm an X metal head. There's really no better name than "death" for most of it. A lot of that stuff goes way beyond promoting selfish ambition (the opposite of what God teach...selfless servitude.), straight to worshipping the devil himself. Mi cyaan deal wit dat no more. Now I see.

Chimno,
Nice posts...Call me forward, I prefer that to being callled Mr. Zion.
Quote
"The only true Rasta who lives how he sings of this generation is Luciano"
I agree bout Luciano, but that cannot be true....
You try a say nah Warrior King, Nah Jah Mali, Nah Dezarie, nah Midnite, nah Abijah, (etc.) none come rise!!!!
It is that you only think rasta is upheld by them patriarchs..
Many rise and gone, many more still here.....and nuff youth to bear da fruit
Like Garnet Silk say "It is growing..., and showing"
I love where it come from and give thanks for them we are bout to witness this year!!!!
Yet never lose sight of what is becoming and know that it only get better from here............
We are Jah Masons building on the works of our brothers to bring bout Jah will.
Jah works are not yet done, we come to respect our elders and carry on the march to ForwardZion...............

Respect Forward. What I SHOULD have said is Luciano is the only one I can verify lives upright as his message. I don't watch people like that, but certain things I hear & see with evidence to back it up about many other young entertainers does seem to have an effect on how the music is perceived.
I will have to look for the music of some of the artists you mentioned, only heard WK, Jah Mali so far...
Blessss

LOL.
As a young one:
Im still really into what I call Tribal Rock. I Dislike Death metal and really wannabee hard Goth rock, my music foundations are so diverse. I like everything damn near. Country irratates me though, and main stream rap.
But Tribal Rock I will always love, Ritualistic Drumming and Thick electric Guitar!
with awsome Lyrical poetry. yes My fav Tribalistic rock band of all time would have to be T00L, CD- Lateralus.
Check it out some time if any of you guys are interested, best rock album of the year 2000.
I Believe.
Peace and Love
PKW-

Waaaaaaaaaaaay earlier in the thread which veared off topic a little....(he he he) some made mention of the lack of Dancehall this summer. Bounty and Vegas just got added to the ROTR lineup. Theres a little massive dancehall for the summer!

Yeah I remember Mr. Vegas getting booed off the stage that year, he called the crowd San Francisco several times too, in Humboldt County! That didnt go over with me, or the rest of the audience too well. Since we are not batty in Humbolt!
He kept yelling at the sound man to turn up his mic and the turntables, he would even finish his set, you guys are in for a big treat with him......cho...........